On this page you can see some pictures from my valiant life as
a gladiator. It all started on a lovely June weekend 2754 ab
urbe condita in the archeological park of Xanten, a.k.a. Colonia
Ulpiana Traiana. The famous historian Marcus
Junkelmann is the
leader of the Familia Gladiatoria Pulli Cornicinis, and he
is a good cook, too, which also comes in very handy. Mulsum and puls
have kept most of us alive so far.

In antiquity
gladiators were professionally exercised to achieve maximum
performance in the arena. Mostly retired gladiators, magistri
or doctores were working in this function. Medical care
was excellent, since a gladiator who was not fit was really not
worth watching. Every munus had several parts. There were
fights against beasts, mythological battles and, of course,
public executions. Educated Romans like Seneca refrained from
watching the latter, because he considered them artless slaughter serving no didactic purpose. Gladiatorial fights, on the other
hand, were highly esteemed by him. The manner in which gladiators faced
death was thought to be the best exemplum of virtue.

"You must die erect and invincible. It is
not important if we gain more days or even years in our life, but
it does matter very much how we die. We were born in a merciless
world." (Seneca: Epistulae 37,2)

The gladiatorial part of a munus started with a pompa.
First a music band
enters the scene followed by several dignitaries, the gladiators
and their retinue. (Yes, gladiators had their own personnel who
helped them to get dressed in the arena. Since these fights were
a lucrative job, the keeping of servants was not a problem for
most of them).

The next picture shows some members of the Familia
Gladiatoria Pulli Cornicinis. From left to right you can see
a Hoplomachus, a Murmillo, a Harenarius (a
servant), Dr Marcus Junkelmann, another Thraex, a Provocator,
a Secutor and a Retiarius.

Fights were not a wild melee where every second
someone died. This impression, reinforced by movies like Ridley
Scott's Gladiator, is totally wrong. Gladiators fought
strictly in pairs of two. Everything was regulated, the weapons,
the armour; there were even referees, the summa rudis, and different leagues since there were fighters of
different quality. There were several
distinct types of gladiators (see above for examples) who always
fought against another type. Thus a secutor would always
fight a retiarius, but he would never strike his sword
against a provocator.

The thraex carries a small shield, the parmula, a helmet, two
long greaves, a manica on the right arm and a kind of
padded trousers. As a weapon he has a sica, a curved sword considered an
unfair weapon by honest Romans. Here the thraex, on the left, fights against
a murmillo. The murmillo's shield is much larger
and can be a terrible weapon, too. But this is balanced by the
fact that he only has one short greave on his left leg and
that he has not got padded trousers.

Sometimes a thraex also fought against a hoplomachus, who, with his small shield and
lance, takes after a Greek type of warrior. The thraex here uses a
gladius, the Roman military sword, since the sica was broken in an
earlier fight.

Victory (thraex vs. hoplomachus) and

Defeat (hoplomachus vs. thraex) are often very close
companions, but defeat does not necessarily mean that someone has
to die. Only one in ten fights ended with either of the
gladiators dead.

The following life dates were collected from
tombstones in Ephesos, Turkey:

Beautiful girls wait for the victorious fighter. Sometimes even women of doubtful character show
their interest.

There is no questioning it. Gladiators were the
sport superstars of their time. Lovesick teenagers wrote graffiti
on the walls of Rome and everywhere else in the empire:

Cresces retiarius puparum nocturnam (The
retiarius Cresces who catches the young girls at night)

Suspirium puellarum, traex Celadus (The
sigh of the girls, the traex Celadus)

Definitely the most spectacular pairing was the
battle between the heavily armed secutor (right) against
the retiarius whose only armour consists in a manica and
swift feet. But the fight is not as uneven as it seems, sometimes
cunning and dodging win over sheer power and iron.

Not always the net is as powerful a weapon as it is here.
Normally the trident decides about life and death.

Finally of short video showing a fight between
a retiarius and scissor.